Last Minute Details

En route to Chennai, India and my pre tournament to do list is almost checked off. It took a bit of improvisation, but things got done, and now they just need to get done on the court:

1. Get entered into Challenger - Check
This was actually harder than it sounds. As the season comes to a close, Steve and I have the 3rd most FIVB points of all Canadian teams. Unfortunately, this put us third behind the two teams of Reader/Schalk and Redmann/Van Huizen. Due to the limit of 2 teams per country at this tournament, that made us the alternate. To avoid having a country quota (where two teams of the same country play off in a pre tournament qualifier), only the top 2 teams were registered, and we were placed on call. A couple days after the registration deadline, Rich and Christian made the decision to pull out of the tournament

This is where things got a little hectic. Since the deadline had passed and we were not yet registered, we were afraid of the standard FIVB 1000$ late entry fee. Thanks to Beach National Team Coordinator, for working nonstop sending emails back and forth with tournament organizers and quite probably sweet talking his way into getting us to replace our fellow Canucks at no extra cost.

2. Train for Chennai - Check
Again, tougher than it sounds (you'll notice this trend throughout this list). Originally the plan was to head down to Huntington and train with the locals. Sadly, since we only received confirmation of our entry to the tournament a week and a half ago, we needed all the time remaining for our Indian visa applications. Whatever training we were going to do, would need to be in Canada, weather permitting. So the week and a half has been spent in Whiterock, BC, with the help of Steve's longtime coach Kyra Iannone. (Thanks again)

3. Book Flights to India - Check
For this one, the difficulty was expected. Flights to India are pricey enough as is, now try booking them within a week of traveling there. After searching every travel site in our arsenal, and searching from all nearby airports we could think of, Steve came through in the clutch and managed to find some almost affordable flights leaving from Seattle.

4. Get Indian Tourist Visas - Check
As with any travel visa, you apply one day, then collect your visa a few days later. In this case it was lot of trouble to apply, and a bit of a scare to collect. After sitting in the Consulate for about 2 hours before finally having my number called just to hand in my application form and passport, I then had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus to show up, for the hour long transit home. Bus rides there and back considered, and the application process took about 5 hours.
The collection scare was my own fault. After losing the receipt, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to pick up my passport again before our flight. Fortunately, all I needed was my name, birthdate, signature, and my lovely face in order for them to verify it was my passport.

5. Pack - Check
No problems, but I hate packing. And laundry, which also needed to get done. At least this time I made sure to pack all my playing shorts in with my carry on this time. Lost luggage won't be getting me down on this little trip. As with most trips, I should remember something that I forgot shortly.

6. Write a Blog - Almost there
Finally, my to do list is my all done list.


Cheers,

Ben Jammin